Saturday, November 21, 2015

Ghosts of Kingston Cottage by Libby Bishop

Book Blurb:

Medium
and paranormal investigator Arabella Pierce is sent with her crew to
Kingston Cottage, a haunted Maine seafarer’s cottage on an isolated
island, but for this investigation, her boss has stuck them with
skeptical reporter Lucas Brown. Though he’s hot as they come, Arabella
can’t trust a man whose sole job is to discredit her and the work she
does. Not after what happened with the last few skeptics…

All
Lucas may want is the truth, but that doesn’t change her feelings
towards him. When the ghosts appear, she and Lucas must work together—in
tight quarters—to convince the resident ghosts to move on before a
storm strands the entire crew on the island. Can Arabella put aside her
prejudices long enough to see what the ghosts are trying to tell her?
And if she does, will she and Lucas have a shot at a lifetime?

Book Excerpt:

Hands on her hips, Arabella Pierce stood
scowling at her boss. “I cannot believe
you’re making me do this.”

Folger Dade expressed nothing but
patience as he leaned forward in his chair and rested his forearms on his small
mahogany desk––his normal position when the two of them were headed into an
argument. “It’s a business decision that had to be made. I regret doing this to
you on short notice, but this is how it is.”

She sat down in the comfy blue
wingback chair facing the desk. “I am a paranormal investigator. I see dead
people, for goodness sake! And you want me to deal with this, this—”

“Reporter. He’s a reporter for
Debunker Media, and he wants to follow you on an investigation, as part of his
series of web articles on psychics and ghosts.”

“And you thought it was a good idea
to hinder me like that? Don’t you remember what happened with the last two
skeptics you had hunt with us?” The memory made her blood boil. Skeptics
weren’t meant to go on serious investigations—she’d learned that at an early
age.

Sure, organizations like Debunker
Media were necessary, to help arm the public against frauds and cheats.
Unfortunately, there were plenty of people who were not gifted but wanted to be, as well as quite a few fraudsters out
to steal people’s money. Not to mention many individuals who enjoyed making fun
of people like her.

She pursed her lips and sat silent as
Folger sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Arabella knew she was the only
investigator to give him so much grief in all his long years in the business—she
was certain she was responsible for the majority of gray hair on his head. But
he put up with it from her for a reason, and that was because she was one of
his two best mediums.

He dropped his hand and met her eyes.
“It’s good press, and it’s one week
with a reporter. One week that could boost our caseload and bring in more money
so we can continue to do those cases for free. Please, don’t fight me on this
one.”

She looked away from his light gray
eyes. Revenant Investigations—based in Noble, Maine—did all of their cases for
free, getting their money instead from fundraising and private donations.
Folger worked very hard to keep it that way. He had always been like a father
to her, and she didn’t want to fight with him. Yet she didn’t want a so-called
“reporter” hampering her investigation, either.

“Does he know the rules?” she asked,
resignation in her tone.

“Yes,” he said with a sigh, and a
healthy dose of relief. “And I also informed him of the other skeptics I’ve
allowed on hunts, and what I’ll do if he gives you that kind of grief.”

Yeah,
doesn’t make up for sending this one along. “And what
investigation are we doing? You didn’t say.”

“Kingston Cottage.”

Arabella
stared at him, shocked. “Are you serious?”

He
nodded. “The owners contacted me last week, and informed me they need to sell
the house as soon as possible. They want to put it on the market this month,
due to personal reasons. In order to do that they need to know what’s inside
and how to get rid of it.”

“No
one has ever been allowed to investigate it…” she trailed off in awe.

Folger
smiled. “Until now.”

She
couldn’t help but return his smile. The feeling of a fresh,
no-one-else-has-done-it hunt was too much of a thrill to pass up. Historic
Kingston Cottage was located on a small island, all by itself, and had been
rumored to be haunted since before Arabella was born. She had seen pictures and
taken boat rides past the island, but she’d never set foot on the private
property.

“When
do we have to be at the docks?” she inquired as she stood, grabbing her coat
off the back of the chair.

“Seven
o’clock tomorrow morning. Don’t be late. Dustin is taking you over. But,
Arabella—” She looked at him, knowing that tone. “It’s just going to be you,
the reporter, Nick, and Lena. I need the rest of the crew on a different hunt.”

She
paused at the door. Nick was one of their tech guys, and Lena was a lead investigator,
like Arabella. Five more investigators rounded off the team. But the more she
thought about Folger’s decision to use a small crew, the more it made sense,
especially within the limited space of the cottage. “Nick and Lena,” she began,
“do they know about the … ‘reporter’?”

Folger
rolled his eyes, clearly hearing the quotation marks in her tone.

“Yes. I asked them not to speak of it
until I talked to you myself. I think that was best, don’t you?”

Arabella
chose to ignore the rolling eyes. “And the reporter?”

“He’ll
be there at seven sharp as well. His name’s Lucas Brown, and he’s a serious reporter.”

She
nodded slowly, not really believing him. “I’ll check in when we get there.”

“Please
do, and be sure to pack extra clothes. You know how storms brew up suddenly
here. I don’t want you all stranded without necessities. The owners left you
some food. Expect to be on the island at least three days, maybe four. Oh, and there’s
also a generator in the basement if you lose power.”

“Good
to know, and it was nice of them to leave some food.”

“Yes.
They’re good people.”

She
found it a bit strange that the crew wasn’t going to meet the owners before the
investigation, and stranger still that she had never met them. Noble was a
small town along the central Maine coast—it was pretty rare not to put a name
to a face.

“Arabella,”
Folger called as she left his office. “Try not to push him into the bay.”

Bio:

Libby Bishop is a paranormal romance/erotic author. She also writes dark fantasy/horror under the name October Weeks.

She
loves reading, movies, Lindt dark chocolate, autumn, the SyFy Channel
(Haven and Bitten!), and spending time with friends and family. She has
one fat, fluffy, cat who thinks she’s queen of the house…and really, she
is :)